LOS ANGELES: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was voted Movie of the Year and scooped top acting honors at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday, reflecting the irreverent ceremony’s appeal to young fans.
The second installment of the hugely popular Hunger Games books beat out this year’s Oscar best picture winner 12 Years a Slave in online voting that continued through much of the show.
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson won best female and male performances for their roles as Katniss and Peeta. Hutcherson remembered his Hunger Games cast mate Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died of a drug overdose earlier this year. “I know that if Philip were here, he would think this is really cool,” said Hutcherson.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has earned more than $850 million at the worldwide box office.
In one of the night’s upsets, Tris, played by Shailene Woodley in Divergent, won favourite character of the year, coming from behind in last-minute voting to surpass Lawrence’s Katniss. They each received more than 9 million votes.
Among the most buzz-worthy moments of the night were Efron’s shirtless acceptance of his Best Shirtless Performance award.
The MTV Movie Awards are an opportunity for film fans to pick their favorites, in contrast to most of the film industry awards, like the Oscars, which are voted by elite industry groups. The Wolf of Wall Street and American Hustle got a chance to redeem themselves after walking away empty-handed from the Oscars. They each landed eight nods for the MTV awards, but also won little on Sunday.
The MTV Trailblazer Award went to actor Channing Tatum for his versatility in playing everything, from a dancer from the wrong side of the tracks to a hero trying to save the world from danger.
Mark Wahlberg, who most recently starred in the Afghanistan war drama Lone Survivor, received this year’s MTV Generation Award, an honor given to those who engage with the MTV audience throughout their careers.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 15th, 2014.
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